15 things you don't know about the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania

Appalachian Trail thru-hikers trudge through 4-5 pairs of boots during their average 165 days on the 2,189-mile, Maine-to-Georgia trail.

Pennsylvania’s 229 miles of the trail – or at least the northern two-thirds of them – are legendary among trail hikers for the wear and tear they exact on boots. That portion of the trail is widely known as "the place where boots go to die" and "Bootsylvania."

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Some of the toughest trail

Pennsylvania holds the fourth most difficult and the fourth easiest sections of the Appalachian Trail, according to a survey of 2017 thru-hikers.

The northern two-thirds of the trail section in Pennsylvania were rated fourth most difficult, behind the sections of the trail in White Mountains National Forest, New Hampshire; southern Maine; and Baxter State Park, Maine.

The southern third of Pennsylvania’s section of the trail were rated fourth easiest, behind the sections of the trail in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia; Maryland; and Shenandoah National Park.

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The whole range of what the trail throws at hikers

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy rates Pennsylvania with a 3 overall difficulty rating and a range from 1 ("flat and smooth") to 9 ("rock scrambling that is difficult and extended"). The most difficult rating is 10, which signifies "use of hands required for extended periods of climbing, footing precarious and leaping may be required; not recommended for those with fear of heights and not in good physical condition; shorter hikers may be at a disadvantage." Other states range from an average rating of 9 for Maine to 2 for Maryland.

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Also some very easy hiking

Contrasting with the rocky ridges and steep descents into river valleys and gorges of northern Pennsylvania, a 13-mile section of the Appalachian Trail in southern Pennsylvania’s Cumberland Valley is noted as one of the longest, lowest and flattest sections of the trail. It’s the longest valley crossing on the AT.

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Nearly 2,000 feet of elevation

Elevations on the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania range from 320-2,080 feet above sea level. Neither of those Pennsylvania extremes are the overall marks for the trail. The lowest elevation on the trail, at 124 feet, lies in Bear Mountain State Park, New York. The highest elevation, at 6,643 feet, is Clingman’s Dome in Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee.

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James Robinson

229.6 miles

Pennsylvania holds the fourth longest portion of the AT - 229.6 miles - after Virginia with 550.3, Tennessee with 287.9 and Maine with 281.4. Other states with portions of the AT are New Hampshire, 160.9 miles; Vermont, 149.8; North Carolina, 95.5; Massachusetts, 90.2; New York, 88.4; Georgia, 76.4; New Jersey, 72.2; Connecticut, 51.6; Maryland, 40.9; and West Virginia, 4.0.

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Mid-point in Pennsylvania

Although the length of the AT changes regularly - 2,179.1 miles in 2010, 2,181 miles last year - the midpoint remains somewhere in or near Pine Grove Furnace State Park in Cumberland County, usually a mile or two south of the park.

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Half-gallon of ice cream in one sitting

A traditional challenge for thru-hikers reaching the mid-point of the AT is to chow down an entire half-gallon brick of Hershey’s ice cream in one sitting at the Pine Grove Furnace General Store in Pine Grove Furnace State Park near Gardners.

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History of the trail

Also in Pine Grove Furnace State Park is the Appalachian Trail Museum, which is housed in a 200-year-old grist mill. It’s the only museum in the country dedicated to hiking, and portrays and preserves the history and the physical, emotional and spiritual human experiences of the trail.

Exhibits are devoted to early founders of the trail, Benton MacKaye and Myron Avery, as well as some of the early pioneer thru-hikers such as Earl Shaffer (the last remaining shelter he built is on display) and Grandma Gatewood. The museum also features changing exhibits, a thru-hiker photo display of more than 10,000 hikers, a hiker's lounge and an indoor/outdoor story-telling center to encourage visitors to share hiking experiences. The ground floor of the building is a children's area, featuring a cement floor painted with a children's version of the trail and panels for children to follow along the route to educate them about each state and the trail.

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Marcus Schneck | mschneck@pennlive.com

A Pennsylvania first

A Pennsylvanian was the first reported person to report a thru-hike on the AT. Earl Shaffer, of York, did the entire in 1948, explained that his hike was to "walk the Army out of his system" after his serviced in World War II. He thru-hiked the trail again in 1965 and again in 1998, when at the age of 79 he became the then-oldest thru-hiker and was marking the 50th anniversary of his first thru-hike.

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Damaged landscape

One of the most environmentally damaged sections of the AT - a Superfund site, in fact - is in Pennsylvania. The Palmerton Zinc Pile in Carbon County is one of the country's 1,319 Superfund cleanup sites. From the early 1900s to 1980 the town was home to a large zinc smelting operation that emitted large quantities of zinc, lead, sulfur dioxide and other contaminants that defoliated a 2,000-acre mountainside. The AT leads hikers up to the site.

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Trail communities

Five of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy's more than 40 Appalachian Trail Communities are in Pennsylvania: Boiling Springs in Cumberland County, Delaware Water Gap in Monroe County, Duncannon in Perry County, Waynesboro in Franklin County and Wind Gap in Northampton County. The trail communities program is designed to recognize communities that promote and protect the AT and its hikers.

In his 1998 book “A Walk in the Woods,” author Bill Bryson had very little positive to say about Pennsylvania’s part of the Appalachian Trail, which the author encountered only after giving up his thru-hike ambitions hundreds of miles south of Pennsylvania and then doing only 11 miles or so of actual hiking in the state.

Among Bryson's thoughts on Pennsylvania: "I never met a hiker with a good word to say about the trail in Pennsylvania...sea of rock...Lots of people leave Pennsylvania limping and bruised...reported to be the meanest rattlesnakes anywhere along the trail...the most unreliable water sources, particularly in high summer...the very worst maps ever produced for hikers anywhere."

According to Bryson, who never actually checked out the statement by hiking to most of the spots, the AT "traverses no notable eminences anywhere in Pennsylvania, offers no particularly memorable vistas, visits no national parks of forests, and overlooks the state's history."

For some reason, in his book about the AT, Byson spent much of his Pennsylvania chapter on Centralia and its ongoing mine-fine debacle. Centralia, at more than 25 miles from the nearest point of the AT, is far from a stop for many on the trail.

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More than 4,300 gave it a shot

Although less than a quarter of them likely finished the quest, in 2017 more than 3,800 hikers launched their intended thru-hikes of the Appalachian Trail at the southern end of the trail at Springer Mountain in Georgia and about 500 started their attempt at the northern end of the trail at Mount Katahdin in Maine. Completion statistics have not been released for 2017.

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First section in Pennsylvania

The Harrisburg Chapter of the since-disbanded Pennsylvania Alpine Club, is credited with building the Darlington Trail, which eventually became the first designated section of the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania. The AT eventually was relocated and today the 7.7-mile Darlington Trail runs from the junction of the Appalachian and Tuscarora trails at its western end to Tower Road at its eastern end, all on State Game Lands 170.